Categotry Archives: Mention Monday
The Black Market of Ulaanbaatar
We went to the Black Market. The tour guide was very careful to let us know that Black Market is the name. It’s not an illegal market. It’s the largest, best known market place in Mongolia.
The Kazhak’s Mosque
We went from the Kazhak family to a mosque that they attend. It was the first time I’d ever been in one. They had scarves at the entrance that we could put on our heads and a wall full of cubbies for our shoes. We all filed up to the second floor prayer room and wandered around. There is a domed ceiling/roof that really impressed me. If you stand under it, you can hear every voice in the room as […]
Chinggis Kahn
Notice the name on the monument and the airport building? I first became aware that I’d been spelling and saying the name wrong my whole life as I left the airport in Ulaanbaatar and looked back. Ok, It’s no surprise I’d spell it wrong, but really, have you been spelling it right?
Archery
Archery is one of the stronger sporting traditions in Mongolia, along with wrestling, and horseback riding. There are arrowheads laying around on/in the ground in Mongolia at about the same rate as in Montana – not something you’re going to stumble across all the time, but not a big surprise when you find one. There were a number of metal ones in the museums. The archers of Chengus Kahn are said to be one of the main reasons for his […]
Grocery Shopping in Mongolia
I don’t normally travel with tour groups. If I can, I generally car-camp. I’ll stop off at restaurants that look interesting, but generally I hit grocery stores along the way and fix my own food. Since this tour provided food for most of the trip, I really didn’t expect to stop in at any grocery stores at all. To my surprise, we hit several.
Fences in Mongolia
Mongolians are more likely to fence themselves in than they are to fence in their livestock.
Scarves and Prayers
I mentioned earlier that Mongolians use scarves in their religious beliefs. Specifically, they wrap scarves around sacred objects. In the picture to the right you can see them wrapped around a pole placed in a pile of rock. This is an ovoo. It’s a common practice in the shamanic traditions of Mongolia to place piles of rock – sometimes with a stick or pole, but not always – in places where a deity is believed to live. For instance, there […]
Cell Phones in Mongolia
When I first started getting ready to go to Mongolia, I went to Google Maps and gave the place a long, hard look. Mountains. Fields. A few towns and Ulaan Baatar. That was about it. Knowing how much trouble I’ve had with international calls, I assumed there wasn’t a big enough market when people were spread out so much so I didn’t even take my cell phone with me. I mean, we’re talking about a total population of 2.8 million […]
Gandan Monastery
Photos 1,2,and 7 from my Thursday 13 last week were taken at the Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar. In case you missed it, Ulaanbaatar (pronounced like lawn bought-er) is the national capital of Mongolia. I know of at least two Buddhist monasteries there. We visited one.
Unpacking
I seem to have lost one of my camera memory cards. It’s one from the beginning of the trip. I know this shouldn’t slow me done, but there it is. I feel like I can’t do anything else until I find it. Actually, I’ve tried to do all kinds of things, and so far have gotten precious little done. For instance, I’m trying to move a couple of book cases that got orphaned when I went on my trip. I […]
Mongolia
I’m away from keyboard again. As I mentioned on my Welcome page, I’m going to Mongolia for a few weeks. I’ll be sleeping in yurts, wandering through deserts, paddling across lakes, visiting museums, and meeting families who raise yacks and reindeer. Yes, of course I’m going to take pictures. 🙂 I’ll be glad to share them with you when I get back and have time to cull through what is good and what is not. I’m taking 32megs of memory, […]
Junk
My house is full of it. Stuff, I mean. I just put in shelves to hold what little I let The Boy leave behind when he moved out. He was supposed to condense his stuff himself, but apparently he doesn’t have the knack for it yet. He was taking up the whole room with the stuff, and as it was scattered everywhere. It was an eye sore. Not that this is much better, but every little bit, you know. I’m […]
I’m Back
Sorry to disappoint those who were waiting to see my fantastic camping pictures. I’m not sure if it was the overcast skies or what, but I didn’t get any good shots. This is the best I could do. We had a great time. Only actually got rained on a couple of times. At one point the pollen from the trees had collected on the sides of the tent so when the rain washed it away, it ran in bright yellow […]
Gone Camping
Seriously, isn’t it the best time of year to get out there and commune with trees and such? Well, that’s what I’m doing. All week long. So, no Suzie’s House this week, or anything else for that matter, except for The Serialists, and I won’t be able to pick a featured author nor set it up in my sidebar this week. I’ve got it all set for autopost, and it’ll stay at the top until I get back. Then I’ll […]
